Last year’s winner was Mount Vernon resident Nancy Cabe, who landed a 24.22 pound Chinook Salmon.
Activities start Friday afternoon with a free fishing seminar and door prizes. There’s a kick-off dinner Friday night. Fishing starts at 6 am Saturday morning in Marine Area 7 in the San Juan islands, with weigh-ins at 6 pm that evening. Then fishing starts over again Sunday morning, with weigh-ins set for noon. The awards ceremony will be at 1:30 Sunday afternoon at Cap Sante Marina.
First prize is $12,000, second prize is $4,000 and third prize is $2,000. But, there’s also a side-contest. The fisher with a fish matching the secret weight will also get $2,000.
Proceeds of the derby goes to a scholarship fund to benefit students pursuing education in the fisheries area. More than $50,000 has already gone to more than a dozen students in scholarships in the past two years.